


I write sins, not tragedies

by livinginadaydream (orphan_account)



Category: Actor RPF, Jonas Brothers, Music RPF
Genre: Angst, F/M, Incest, Infidelity, M/M, Pre-Slash, Wedding
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2010-06-25
Updated: 2010-06-25
Packaged: 2017-11-02 04:10:37
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,535
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/364829
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/livinginadaydream
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Dani makes the mistake of eavesdropping on her wedding day.</p>
            </blockquote>





	I write sins, not tragedies

Fixing his tie, for the tenth time, in the mirror, Nick caught Joe's reflection at the doorway. He turned with a small smile, dropping his hands from the perfectly straight, black bow tie. Looking Joe over, he breathed in content, until he took a closer look at the expression on Joe's face. He looked nervous, and Joe rarely got nervous, but then Joe had never been best man at a wedding before, so Nick figured that was probably what did it. Firsts were scary, nerve-wrecking, he could understand that.   
  
Walking closer to his brother, Nick met Joe towards the middle of the room and ducked his head just slightly, going in for a comfort-filled kiss, but Joe put his hands up, cupped Nick's cheeks, held him gently but firmly in place. "Not now, Nick," he said, and his voice sounded pained and when Nick opened his eyes, he saw a sort of wild panic where he'd only seen nerves before. Immediately he took a step back, giving Joe the space he needed, but Joe followed closely after, pulling Nick into a hug and whispered, "Thank god you're here," before pulling back, looking as though he might cry, might actually cry.   
  
"Joe..." Nick didn't know what was going on. The last week had been perfect, busy, but so perfect and happy, and not once had Joe expressed anything other than absolute contentment, yet here he was, looking almost - terrified. Nick reached out, put his hand at the base of Joe's neck where it connected to his shoulder, squeezed, silently begging that Joe tell him what was wrong. He needed to fix it, make it better, or something... Nick wasn't perfect and he didn't have all the answers, but he did need to try.   
  
With eyes that asked him to just hear him out, Joe started, his voice shaky, and sometimes he would look away as though he couldn't even believe what he was saying. "I saw him Nick. Last night... He gave me a key to his room because I'm best man. I'm his best man, and I have to wake him up, well, had to - this morning. Nick," Joe paused and looked pleadingly up at his younger brother. He was asking for permission to stop, but Nick couldn't give it to him when he didn't know how, and he knew Joe needed to get it off his chest. Nick squeezed his shoulder again, hooked his fingers under Joe's lapel and thumbed the fabric there, trying to give Joe extra stability.   
  
"I was going to keep it to myself," Joe explained, suddenly looking tired on top of everything else, and Nick wondered if Joe had slept at all the night before. "I can't do it though, Nick. I don't even know if that _would_  be the thing to do. And I just have to tell someone. I'm so sorry it's you... I'm so sorry." Joe looked away, and Nick's stomach, heart, whatever could drop, dropped, sinking, and he still had no idea what was going on behind Joe's eyes. "He was with someone, Nick. He was  _with someone_ , and it wasn't Dani." His voice threatened to crack as he finished but Joe held himself up, but looked straight to the ground.   
  
"Kevin?" Danielle heard Nick's voice coming from the room she was approaching as she walked silently down the hall. She didn't want to be caught out of her cage-pen of a room, because one or three of the mother figures around would probably throw a fit, but she had to take the risk. She slowed though, as she got closer to the door, hearing the disbelieving quality of Nick's voice as he said Kevin's name, her Kevin, her soon-to-be-husband-like-today-actually Kevin. She smiled slyly, pressing herself closer to the wall, getting her ears closer to the door as she heard Nick add, "Kevin would never do that." Kevin was full of quirks, and she loved him so much for it that sometimes it hurt. She couldn't count how many times her stomach had hurt, actually cramped out from laughing so hard because of his antics. If there was just one more thing she could have from him to make her happier, make her laugh, give her ammo to be playfully teasing toward him, she'd get it, because that was what wives did. They made fun of their husbands until they blushed and kissed them quiet again.   
  
"I know," Joe whined, and Dani was surprised to hear the tone, but continued listening carefully. "I know, Nick, but he did!" His voice, once almost a whisper was growing more frantic. "He cheated on her Nick! The night before their wedding!" He needed Nick to understand, to just please understand what was going on, what he was going through a half hour before Danielle was set to walk down the aisle. His voice had grown louder out of desperation. "Why would I make that up? Why would I ever, in a million years, make that up, Nick?" His eyes were pleading, watering, and Nick's jaw dropped just as Dani's did.   
  
She couldn't explain the flash of emotions that warred through her, inside of her: despair, sadness, betrayal, love, love that hurt so much more than she could have ever thought, and anger, desperation to make this into something less real. Anything she could do... She grasped at straws. Sighing, half-crying, Dani stepped around the wall, into the room, and through tight lips, and with broken heart, she said, trying to sound calm, unsurprised, like her world didn't just fall apart, she said, "They invented doors for a reason." Her voice, though, came out soft, like a little girl left alone, forgotten in the game of hide and seek, and she would talk to the doll cradled in her arms, trying to convince it, herself, that she was all right. That those meanies just couldn't find her because, hot dang, she was good at hide and seek. And just like those times, she sounded wholly unconvincing.   
  
Grasping at her stomach through her white, silken dress, Danielle tried to suck back the tears that threatened to roll down her eyes. She just shook her head as a stricken-looking Joe said through all of his shaken worry, "Dani... You look beau-" He stopped as soon as he realized, it wouldn't get them anywhere, no where far enough away from this.   
  
A familiar voice came ringing down the hall, and all three looked at the door with widening eyes as Kevin stepped in calling, "Joe! Nick!" a happy, pleased grin on his face that hadn't broken away once throughout the engagement, or not that any of them had seen. As soon as he registered Dani was in the room, his smile fell, half way, anyway, as he gasped and put his hands over his eyes. "God, I'm sorry, Dani! I didn't know - what are you doing in here?"   
  
Nick stepped toward her, put an arm around her shoulder, pulled her into him as if it might protect her someway, somehow from his oldest brother, and it felt like someone was dragging a blade across his stomach, slowly, teasingly, but he had to do it, had to fight against Kevin this time. Dani wouldn't have it though. She shrugged away from him, breathing in and then out before speaking in a dead tone. "I was thirsty. Everyone  _left me_ . And my throat hurt. I didn't want to  _fuck up_ ," she said, as though spitting out venom, and they all watched as Kevin's brows furrowed, and he went to pull his hands away but thought better of it, as she continued, "Our vows."   
  
Still sounding thrown off, not being able to see the looks of disgust and hurt being given to him, Kevin responded slowly, sweetly, "Oh honey... I'm so sorry. I thought for sure that mom would stay with you the whole time. I'll go talk to her. You go-" Danielle was walking toward him, or to the door, Joe wasn't sure, but he was apprehensively flinching, side-stepping closer and closer to Nick who already had his arm lifted, out of the way for Joe to encircle his torso.   
  
Walking up to him, she cut off his sentence, putting her hand in the center of his chest and shoving a little, finally making his hands drop, looking so beyond confused Joe and Nick almost wondered if he really had done it. But Joe had seen him, so clearly, for god's sakes, the bed lights were on, and Nick knew when Joe was telling the truth, when he was lying, knew Joe, and Joe wasn't being an idiot right now... Kevin only looked at Dani though, silently asking her what he'd done. "No," she said, a fire behind her calm facade, "You go, Kevin. You  _go_ ." Baffled, Kevin stared on at her even as she turned back to Joe and Nick, showing them her pain, her real pain finally, raising her hand to cover half of her face as she started crying. "At least I found out before it was too late. At le-" but she stopped, couldn't go on, and ran out the door, ran somewhere, to find something, or someone, or maybe nothing...


End file.
